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The University of Texas' Department of and Center for Middle Eastern Studies, are pleased to announce that they will host the J?l Jad?d Conference, a graduate student conference in Arabic Literature and Linguistics, to be held at the University of Texas - Austin, February 18-20, 2011.

This current generation of graduate students represents one of the largest groups of scholars all working together on Arabic in over a century. The purpose of this conference is to bring together students scattered across areas studies, linguistics, comparative literature and other departments in order to facilitate an open and productive exchange of new ideas, and to build collaborative networks that will last well after we finish our graduate education. By coming together to compare our approaches and methods, as well as our innovative research, we can help set the tone for Arabic studies as we move further into the twenty-first century.

The conference will feature keynote speakers on Arabic literature and linguistics, as well as career development workshops offered by faculty from the UT Department of Middle Eastern Studies.

The deadline for abstract submission is November 1st, 2010.

Call For Papers

In order to foster productive and fruitful dialogue, this conference will take an innovative approach to presentations. Papers will be grouped into panels of three to four presenters which will combine short presentations with in- depth discussions. Each panel will be led by a moderator tasked with facilitating and directing discussion.

Submitters who are accepted will be asked to provide a 2-3 page summary of their papers at least two weeks prior to the conference, so that attendees may read these summaries and more time can be devoted to discussion than presentation. Presenters will be given fifteen (15) minutes of presentation time, followed by another fifteen (15) minutes of time for discussion. Presenters will be encouraged to use the presentation time to expand on their summaries and then to suggest topics or questions for discussion.

Topics: All papers on Arabic literature and linguistics will gladly be considered, but we especially encourage submissions on the following topics:

-Beyond diglossia: New approaches to variation in Arabic -Bringing data to bear: Empirical approaches to Arabic pedagogy and SLA -Socio-cultural approaches to the acquisition of Arabic -Asking new questions about old literature -Literature across Arabic Registers -Arabic literature in new diasporas -Arabic Literature, Linguistics and Pedagogy in the Internet Age

Papers which will be also presented at other conferences such as ALS and ACLA are welcome, as we hope to provide a forum for students to further develop and refine their research.

Abstracts: The deadline for abstracts is November 1, 2010. Applicants may submit abstracts of no more than 400 words, not including references, in PDF format with fonts embedded. Abstracts can be submitted via the following website: http://linguistlist.org/confcustom/JilJadidUT Abstracts should not include identifying information, but we do ask that only current graduate students submit abstracts.

Travel Funding: Some travel funding will be available for attendees, with details forthcoming in Fall 2010. International attendees are encouraged to submit and will be able to participate via internet video-chat.

Conference fees: A fee of $30US will be required of all attendees. Checks can be submitted to the following address, and should be made out to the University of Texas, with 'Jil Jadid' in the memo section: